When a mobile vehicle such as a robot moves around, it is desirable to avoid any collision between the mobile vehicle and an obstacle situated in the environment in which the mobile vehicle moves around, for example in order not to damage the mobile vehicle and/or the obstacle.
For any mobile vehicle and, therefore, also for a robot able to move, it is very important to take into account the safety of the mobile vehicle and of elements in its environment. The safety of the vehicle and of the elements in its environment in particular includes the detection of obstacles in the environment and the avoidance of collisions with these obstacles. There are various techniques for avoiding collisions. Most of these techniques involve significant implementation costs and require a significant computation power in order, for example, to determine the position of the robot in a certain frame of reference. Other existing techniques are very expensive, and therefore not suited to use in a robot.